Daubenton's Bat Myotis daubentonii

Scientific Name: Myotis daubentonii (Vespertilionidae).

English Name: Daubenton's Bat (Vesper bat family).

French Name: Le Murin de Daubenton (='Daubenton's mouse like bat').

5 Key Characters:

• small to medium sized (50mm long, weighing 10g).
• often flies very low, over water.
• pale underneath, rich brown on top.
• pinkish nose and face, with bare skin around the eyes.
• echolocation calls at 45-50kHz, delivered like a machine gun firing short bursts.

Lookalikes: Whiskered Bat Myotis mystacinus, which has a black nose.

Habitat: Humid underground sites such as under bridges, in tunnels, caves (abandoned limestone quarries), cellars, moated chateaux. In the winter they hide in crevices. They eat insects such as mosquitoes, crane flies, moths and even sometimes crustaceans.

Hibernation Period: October-November-December-January-February-March-April.


Status: Protected. Reasonably abundant and population stable, possibly increasing.

Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:

Hibernating in the cellars of a chateau.